Maxicard set of four - Nostalgic Fruit Labels

This maxicard set contains the four maxicards from the Nostalgic Fruit Labels stamp issue. A maxicard is a *prepaid postcard with a stamp affixed and postmarked on the view side. The subject matter of a maxicard is common to the card, stamp and postmark.

A *prepaid postcards can be posted from any red post box located in Australia or at your local Post Office and can be sent worldwide or to domestic locations.

Expansion of primary production in early 20th century Australia was so rapid that supply far exceeded the needs of the domestic population. Australia became a major food exporter, particularly to Britain until well after World War II.

Early means of identifying fruit for market was by stenciling wooden fruit cases, using metal stencils brushed with black paint. Details included the grower’s name as well as the type, size and grade of fruit. But as Australia’s fruit export industry expanded, so did the need for marketing of the fruit. While some continued with the use of stenciling only, others chose to add paper labels to promote their “brand”.

Paper labels, pasted onto the end of wooden cases, formed part of the fruit industry landscape between the 1920s and 1970s, before the widespread use of cardboard cartons. There were local market labels, grower labels and more, but the most colourful were the labels used for export. And while labels were used for various types of fruit, apple labels from the “apple isle” Tasmania were by far the most numerous.

In addition to the State Library of Tasmania, one of the largest public collections of fruit labels is part of the Troedel Printing Archive in the State Library of Victoria. The sample books of lithographic printing firm Troedel and Cooper contain an amazing array of colourful designs. Three of the labels featured in this stamp issue are from that collection. The fourth is the Western Australian label for Paterson & Co., one of the largest shippers of apples and pears in the west from the labels era.

Technical details

Issue date: 7 June 2016

Issue withdrawal date: 31 December 2016

FDI withdrawal date: 5 July 2016

Denominations: 4 x $1

Stamp design: Jo Mure

Product design: Jo Mure

Printer: EgoTrade Pty Ltd

Printer (Concertina pack): RA Printing

Printer (self-adhesive): EgoTrade Pty Ltd

Printer (rolls): Pemara

Paper gummed: Tullis Russell Red Phos

Paper self-adhesive: C100 RAF Unik

Printing process: Offset lithography

Stamp size: 37.5mm x 26mm

Perforations: 14.6x13.86

Sheet layout: Module of 50

FDI postmark: Cygnet, Tas 7112

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